| Abstrakt: |
This special thematic issue of the PSJ is about scrutiny understood as a distinct way of approaching, learning about, and knowing prisons. The question of how exactly prison life can be known and understood, by whom, with what consequence, and with what strings attached continues to dog the practices of prison professionals, prison scholars and prison reformers alike. Given the traditional opacity of prisons, 2 perennial questions persist about whose point of view should be privileged, what tools should be used, and who gets to judge what entry point is best. In this collection we privilege a pluralist approach unpacking various routes to knowing prisons. We do so through the notion of scrutiny. Each contributor has been commissioned to write about scrutiny from their own vantage point, be that of the critically engaged scholar or the involved reflexive practitioner. Our hope is that together the contributions cast new light on the variety of means and methods through which prisons might be thought about and responded to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
